1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tremolo device for a guitar, and more particularly, it relates to a device enabling a precise return to an initial tuning of the strings of the guitar after the tremolo device has been used.
2. Description of the Related Art
A guitar, for example, an electric guitar, equipped with a tremolo device which is manually moved to produce a tremolo effect on musical tones obtained by, for example, plucking the strings, is well-known and widely used. Known conventional tremolo devices include a synchronized device fitted to guitars made by the Fender Company (U.S. Pat. No. 2,741,146), a "Bigsby" device fitted to guitars made by the Gibson Company, and a "Vibramute" device fitted to guitars made by the Mosrite Company, and these tremolo devices have basically similar constructions.
Namely, these devices are provided with springs having a tension almost the same as the total tension of the strings of the guitar, and while an equilibrium is maintained between the tension of the springs and the total tension of the strings, the tones of the strings of the guitar are raised or lowered by moving a rod member, i.e., a tremolo arm, upward and downward in relation to a guitar body, to thus rotate the tremolo device about one fulcrum on the guitar body and thereby vary the tension of the guitar strings.
In the conventional tremolo devices mentioned above, however, a problem arises in that the whole of the device is always in a "floating" condition around one fulcrum, while maintaining an equilibrium between the tension of the springs and the tension of the strings.
In an ideal tremolo device, after the force applied to the tremolo arm is released, the tones raised or lowered by the device are returned to the exact initial tuning of the strings of the guitar, in which the equilibrium between the tension of the springs and the total tension of the strings is maintained. In practice, however, since the whole device is in a floating condition as mentioned above, deviations in the tones may occur which cannot be compensated by the restoring force derived from the tensions of the springs or strings, and thus the guitar will be out of tune when returned to the normal condition, i.e., when the tremolo device is inactivated.